Bali' s Gandhi private school gets thumbs up for Becket rendition

Bali's Gandhi international school knocked it out of the park with their rendition Famous play Becket, produced by the senior grades students from 9 to 12.

We are very proud that our son Xander who just reached 15 was given several parts including one major part in the play and he did an excellent job. He didn't miss a line.

Becket Story Line:
Debauched King Henry II  installs his longtime court facilitator Thomas Becket as the Archbishop of Canterbury, assuming that his old friend will be a compliant and loyal lackey in the King's ongoing battles with the church.
But Becket unexpectedly finds his true calling on the ecclesiastical side, and aligns himself against the king's selfish wishes, causing a rift and an eventual showdown not only between the two men, but also the institutions they represent.

The play starts out with King Henry 11 attending to the funeral of Thomas Beckett the former Archbishop of Canterbury and previously a very close friend.
The time was a period after the Normans invaded England and took over from the Saxons.

Becket was a Royal Saxon who became friends with the Norman King.


Due to last-minute stage fright several members of the cast were not available and our son Xander filled in not only as a high ranking officer of the court but also as a servant who assisted the king.

Xanders first on left

At the time the King was always taxing the people to support his wars against French Kings and Normandy.

He and his new friend Becket were known to be purveyors of women in Whore houses



Unfortunately, I did not take a shot of one important scene where Becket and the King had just taken over a village and the King was about to rape a young Saxon village girl.

Somehow Becket intervened but only after a promise that he owed the King a Favor if the King turned the girl over. Beckett let her go.



Younger kids also sat in and watched the play.



A little further on in the play the King decides to make Becket the Archbishop of Canterbury.

This was a huge mistake for the King because Becket turned very religious and began turning church holdings of gold and other assets into offerings for the poor.

Xander, third from left, also filled in as a member of the court in a party scene.

 Becket and the King had talked about introducing dinner forks to the rather backward Saxons.

In one scene Becket is shown to be in love with a member of the court Gwendolyn.

King Henry comes along drunk and says to Beckett "do you remember that favour you owe me?" He then demanded that Beckett relinquish his woman Gwendolyn to the King for an evening of sex.

Becket at first refused but then relinquished.
Gwendolyn said she will not have sex with the king, took a dagger and stabbed herself to death.





This further caused a rift between Becket and the King.









To cut a long story short in the end our son Xander was given the job by the King to go and demand Beket to court for high treason, which Becket refused.



At this point the king ordered his private guard to go and murder Becket


Thus leading back to the scene of the King talking to the deceased Becket as to why this happened.









In the end, the whole cast came to the stage and was applauded vigorously for doing such a wonderful job.












Mom And I thoroughly enjoyed our young boys acting .








After weeks of tense concerns over whether he would blow it there was a relief on his face.



Congratulations to the Gandhi school administration, teachers, and of course students for an excellent rendition of Becket.